Kate Middleton Will Be Pushing Royal Baby 3 in This Carriage
Kate Middleton and Prince William welcomed their third child into the world on Monday morning at the Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital in London. The younger brother of Prince George and Princess Charlotte, and the royal couple's second son, will more than likely have something in common with his two older siblings: the baby carriage that his parents will use for him.
The Silver Cross pram, first sold in 1877, has been used for royal babies since 1926. Known as the Rolls-Royce of prams, due to its high-end design (and the price that goes with it), the Silver Cross pram is said to be the world's first baby carriage, and the style hasn't changed much over the past 140 years.
The company gets its name from Silver Cross Street in Leeds, where blacksmith William Wilson crafted the first pram. Like the carriages sold by the company today, it had a reverse folding hood and spring suspension system. When Wilson passed away in 1913, he left the company to his three sons.
Queen Elizabeth II was the first royal baby to be pushed in the Silver Cross pram in 1926. She also pushed her own children in the carriage around Balmoral Castle: Prince Charles in 1949 and Prince Andrew in 1961. Because of this, the name was then officially changed to the Silver Cross Balmoral pram, giving it further royal distinction.
The Christening Of Princess Charlotte Of Cambridge
Princess Beatrice and Princess Diana also pushed their offspring in the Silver Cross Balmoral pram, and most recently, in 2015, the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, shuttled Princess Charlotte around in the classic carriage at her christening in 2015.
The traditional pram can be bought by anyone who is willing to pay the hefty price: £1,600 (roughly $2,232 USD). Perhaps this is because the state-of-the-art baby carriage is still crafted by hand in Yorkshire, England, to this day. It also comes with polished chrome chassis with high-gloss hand-painted fine detailing on the carriage, chrome-spoked wheels, a hand-stitched Balmoral hood and apron finished with Yorkshire rose detailing, a large clip-on shopping basket, a white deeply padded mattress, a solid wood handle with Silver Cross embossing, and a certificate of authenticity.
The still-unnamed royal baby is the fifth in line of succession after Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince George, and Princess Charlotte. The public will get a glimpse of the baby before he is named: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge typically leave the hospital's Lindo Wing on the day Kate Middleton gives birth, and usually pose for the press outside.
